6 Conclusions And Implications For Policy

This chapter draws together the findings and considers two
questions. First, how can these findings help us answer the key
policy questions posed at the outset of the report? And second,
what do they tell us about maternal employment in Scotland? In
particular, what picture do they paint of mothers of young children
who may be facing particular barriers to entering, re-entering or
remaining in paid work?

6.1 Addressing the key policy questions

6.1.1 Which mothers need support to secure paid work?

The findings suggest that young mothers may be in particular
need of support to secure work – especially teenage mothers.
They emerged as a group more likely not to be in paid work and one
which was consistently present among those seeking work. This is
perhaps unsurprising given that younger mothers tend to have lower
levels of education and skills and will also have less work
experience – simply as a function of their age. We also know
that young mothers are more likely than older mothers to be living
in less advantaged socio-economic circumstances (Bradshaw
et al., 2014b).

Single mothers appear to be another group which could benefit
from additional support to secure employment. For example, being a
single mother was independently associated with giving up work
after having a child, and single mothers were significantly more
likely than partnered mothers to quote childcare issues as a
barrier to finding paid work when their child was a baby.

More widely, mothers in lower income households were more likely
to be seeking work, and compared with more advantaged mothers those
living in less advantaged circumstances were more likely to give up
paid work after having a child.

6.1.2 What are the barriers facing mothers who want to
work?

One of the main barriers reported by mothers was a lack of
suitable jobs. This was by far the most common reason mentioned by
mothers when their child was aged 10 months. Specifically, finding
suitable
part time work is likely to be a particular issue for
mothers of children this age. Difficulties finding work within the
local area that fitted mothers’ particular skills set was
also mentioned. This could suggest that location in itself is
likely to be a barrier for some mothers who are looking for work.
This may be because the area is particularly remote or because only
a limited range of jobs are available.

Mothers also referenced childcare issues as a barrier to finding
paid work. These included difficulties with arranging childcare as
well as mentions of childcare simply being too expensive to make
working worthwhile. There were some indications that childcare was
perceived as more of a barrier as the child approached age 5.
Notably, however, among single mothers childcare issues appeared to
be a significant barrier also when their child was a baby.

In addition, a lack of qualifications and experience to be able
to compete with others in the job market was mentioned by some
mothers, as were issues with organising transport. The latter is
likely to be a particular issue for mothers in less accessible
locations
[43].

Thus, mothers gave a multitude of reasons for not having managed
to find paid work. Moreover, the main reasons varied according to
the child’s age. This suggests that the barriers to
employment that mothers face are multiple, complex and differ
according to their specific circumstances – including the age
of their child, their level of skills and experience, where they
live and whether they are living with a partner. Further research
– ideally with a qualitative component – would be
desirable in order to gain a fuller understanding of the barriers
faced by different groups of mothers, how they co-occur and
interact.

6.1.3 How can mothers be supported to start or remain in
paid work after having a child, and to remain in work as their
child ages?

A mother’s level of education was found to be an important
predictor of whether or not she gave up paid work after having a
child. This suggests that any initiatives aiming to support mothers
to remain in or return to work after childbirth should take into
account the mother’s level of skills and educational
qualifications. Mothers with no or lower levels of qualifications
are likely to have less choice than highly educated mothers when it
comes to pursuing paid work. They may also be more likely to be in
low-paid jobs with little autonomy and little flexibility to fit
work around their family commitments. Thus, in the short term,
supporting mothers to gain further qualifications would undoubtedly
give mothers with little or no prior qualifications more
flexibility to pursue paid work which suits their needs. For
example, colleges offering flexible courses and subsidised on-site
nurseries could help make further education more accessible to
mothers with young children. Notably, though, initiatives focused
solely on making further education or skills improvement
initiatives more accessible are unlikely to be effective on their
own. Such initiatives would need to go hand in hand with efforts to
ensure that mothers consider continuing their education or learning
new skills to be a valuable pursuit. In other words, for education
and training-focused initiatives to work, mothers need to see paid
work as something worthwhile
and they need to see further education as relevant for
improving their chances in the labour market.

Further to improving mothers’ level of skills, the
research also suggests that it is important to ensure that suitable
work is available – particularly part time positions.
Crucially, however, part time jobs must be of a secure and
well-paid nature and must match mothers’ skills levels. It is
also important to address the penalties often incurred from part
time employment, including the risk of being trapped in a cycle of
part time work-no work (Connolly and Gregory, 2006; for an overview
of the literature on penalties associated with part time work see
also Fagan and Norman, 2012).

Other forms of family-friendly working are also likely to
benefit mothers – for example, being able to work from home
and/or to work only during school hours, and being able to take
time off at short notice without pay penalties or other negative
repercussions. Having access to family-friendly working facilities
could be particularly important for mothers who care for a child
with a long-term health condition. Needless to say, however, if
pregnant employees are not aware of such facilities, or if such
facilities are not advertised to potential new employees, mothers
are unlikely to be aware that such options exist. They may
therefore be discouraged from remaining in or applying for a job
which appears irreconcilable with their future caring
responsibilities.

The findings also suggest that ensuring suitable childcare is
available – including for children under the age of one
– may help some mothers (back) into work after having a
child. This could be of particular importance for single mothers
who will in most cases be their child’s primary and sole
carer. In addition to being high quality (Bradshaw
et al., 2014a), childcare must also be affordable and
available at a time and in a location convenient to mothers.

Irrespective of their child’s age, young mothers were
particularly likely to be out of work and looking for work. Further
reductions to the teenage pregnancy rate may therefore in itself
help reduce the number of mothers in need of tailored support to
secure paid work. However, we know that many young mothers face
multiple forms of disadvantage (e.g. Bradshaw
et al., 2014b) and a targeted approach to address the
particular needs of young mothers may therefore be warranted.
Notably, given the multitude of challenges many young mothers face,
initiatives would likely benefit from taking a holistic approach,
with the inclusion of both health, education, early years and
employment services, rather than simply focusing on one
dimension.

Another aspect to consider, perhaps particularly for younger
mothers, is that mothers who do paid work while they are pregnant
are more likely to remain in work after having a child. As such,
connecting pregnant women with an employer during their pregnancy,
or other similar approaches, may be worth exploring for initiatives
aiming to support young or disadvantaged mothers.

Although mothers who were looking for work were overall more
likely to be younger and to live in less advantaged circumstances,
they were by no means a homogenous group. For example, a minority
of the mothers who were not in paid work but reported that they had
looked for work in the last four weeks did not appear to be facing
any particular barriers to entering or re-entering paid work.
Similarly, mothers who were in paid work while they were pregnant
but were subsequently out of work until the child turned 5 were
also a very heterogeneous group. They were not all well-off women
with high-earning partners, neither were they all mothers living in
severely disadvantaged circumstances (although they were more
likely to fall into the latter group).

Thus, the needs of mothers who require support to enter,
re-enter or remain in work after having a child are complex, and
although this report has identified what appear to be some of the
key barriers facing mothers who are looking for work, these will be
closely intertwined with the mother’s wider situation. For
policy makers this suggests that any interventions which aim to
support mothers to enter, re-enter or remain in work after
childbirth will require a holistic approach. That is, an approach
which takes into account mothers’ wider situation and
responsibilities and cuts across policy areas – including
early years services, education and business initiatives as well as
local transport planning – rather than focus on isolated
measures such as providing support with job searches or guidance on
preparing for or attending job interviews.

Within such a holistic approach, however, it is important not to
lose sight of the importance of the nature of the paid work
available to mothers. In the longer term, if the aim is to support
all mothers who want to enter, re-enter or remain in work after
having a child, wider initiatives to address the poorer working
conditions often associated with low skilled work – such as
low pay, insecurity and a lack of flexibility – are likely to
be required. Crucially, initiatives must ensure that paid work
– irrespective of a mother’s skills or experience
– appears attractive and convenient to mothers with young
children. Paid work should be felt by mothers (and everyone else)
to be worthwhile, and should not be a source of stress or worry
about how to combine paid work with their other
responsibilities.

6.1.4 To what extent would an expansion in the provision of
affordable childcare support mothers into paid work?

As noted in
chapter 4, childcare was mentioned as a
barrier to finding work by a substantial minority of mothers of
young children in 2015. A quarter of mothers of 5 year old children
in Scotland who were looking for work quoted issues with childcare
as a reason why they had not managed to find a job. This supports
the argument for improving childcare provision in Scotland and
highlights the need for both flexible and affordable childcare. The
findings also suggest that ensuring suitable childcare is available
for the youngest children – including children under the age
of one – may help some mothers (back) into work after having
a child, particularly single mothers.

An important factor to keep in mind when considering childcare
provision as a potential lever for supporting maternal employment
is that mothers of young children may not automatically perceive
paid work as the best option for them. As shown in this report, a
substantial minority of mothers appear to have weighed their
options and found that, given the options available to them,
engaging in intensive job searches is not worthwhile. Although not
specifically covered in the
GUS data, it is
possible that – alongside other factors – perceived
poor quality of a childcare setting or the logistics of dropping
off and picking up children at childcare at either end of the
working day could influence mothers’ considerations of
whether to take on paid work or to remain at home to look after
their child or children themselves.

6.1.5 Has there been any progress in supporting maternal
employment between 2004/05 and 2010/11?

Overall, mothers who had a child in 2010/11 were more likely
than mothers who had a child six years earlier to be in paid work
when the child was aged 10 months, 3 years and 5 years. They were
also more likely to remain in work after childbirth and during the
first five years of their child’s life. In 2015 only 21% of
mothers of 5 year old children who were out of work had also been
out of work when their child was aged 10 months and 3 years,
compared with 24% of mothers of 5 year old children in 2009/10. For
policy makers and others who seek to increase mothers’
opportunities to undertake paid work whilst caring for a young
child or children, this is a small but encouraging change.

Nevertheless, the analysis found no evidence of any change in
the proportion of mothers who were out of work and seeking work.
This suggests that barriers to maternal employment were still in
place. Furthermore, these barriers appeared to be unevenly
distributed. In particular, among mothers who were in work while
they were pregnant, those living in less advantaged socio-economic
circumstances were more likely than more advantaged mothers to be
out of work after having a child. Also, irrespective of their
child’s age, younger mothers living in lower income
households were more likely than older mothers in more comfortable
financial circumstances to be out of work and looking for work.

Thus, the research showed an overall increase in the proportion
of mothers of young children who were in paid work. However, it
also showed that socio-economic inequalities between mothers
remained and that a small minority of mothers with young children
were still unable to find suitable paid work.

6.2 Concluding remarks

At an overall level, maternal employment rates in Scotland
appear to be improving - mothers living in Scotland who had a child
in 2010/11 were more likely to be in employment during the first
five years of their child’s life than mothers who had a child
six years earlier. Among mothers who had a job while they were
pregnant, those who had a child in 2010/11 were also more likely to
remain in work until their child was aged 5 compared with mothers
who had a child six years earlier. This suggests that the
conditions which support maternal employment were better in 2015
than they were six years earlier.

Nonetheless, the findings do indicate that there is still room
for improvement. For example, there was no evidence of a change in
the overall proportion of mothers who were out of work and looking
for work (although numbers were small). For example, in 2015,
around one in five of mothers of 5 year old children had not been
in paid work at any of the three time points considered –
i.e. they were out of work when their child was aged 10 months, 3
years and 5 years. Thus, barriers to maternal employment remain.
Mothers’ own accounts of why they had not managed to find
paid work pointed to two main barriers, namely a lack of suitable
jobs and issues with arranging suitable childcare. In addition, a
significant minority of mothers said that they had not looked very
hard – often because they preferred to stay at home to look
after their child or children, or because of practical constraints
on their availability to take up a job (for example because they
were due to move to a different area or were expecting another
child). This highlights the complexity of the factors that
influence maternal employment, and how mothers’ and their
families’ decisions around paid employment reflect both their
personal circumstances and wider social, cultural and economic
trends.

The research findings also indicate that inequalities among
mothers remained. Most strikingly perhaps, irrespective of their
child’s age, younger mothers and mothers living in low income
households were found to be more likely than older mothers and
mothers in higher income households to be out of work and looking
for work.

In line with existing research, working during pregnancy was
found to be strongly associated with being in paid work after the
child’s birth. When looking solely at mothers who worked
during pregnancy, single mothers were more likely to give up work
after having a child compared with mothers who were living with a
partner. In addition, single mothers were particularly likely to
quote childcare issues as a barrier to finding paid work when their
child was a baby. The findings also suggest that mothers with
additional childcare needs – for example, those who had
another baby or who were caring for a child with a long-term health
condition – were less likely to remain in work after having a
child compared with other mothers. Finally, there were some
indications that mothers with lower levels of skills and education
were more likely than highly skilled mothers to leave paid work
after having a child. The findings suggest that part of the
explanation for this could be that mothers in highly skilled jobs
are more likely to have access to family-friendly working
facilities – including, for example, flexibility in how much,
where and when they work – although the picture was mixed.
Whilst not directly examined here, it is also worth considering the
impact of job satisfaction more widely. For example, compared with
mothers working in routine or semi-routine occupations, highly
skilled mothers in professional or managerial occupations are
likely to have a higher degree of autonomy and creativity in their
job. In addition, highly skilled women are likely to receive higher
levels of pay and they are more likely to be in jobs with career
ladders and deferred rewards (Smeaton, 2006). This is likely to
make work both more appealing and more rewarding.

In conclusion, the findings presented in this report paint a
mixed and rather complex picture of maternal employment in
Scotland. On the one hand, in 2015, mothers of young children were
more likely to be in paid work than previously. On the other hand,
barriers to maternal employment remained and were not evenly
distributed. Mothers living in disadvantaged circumstances appeared
to be disproportionately unsuccessful in securing work and more
likely to leave paid work after having a child. Whilst choosing to
give up work after having a child may reflect a mother’s
personal preferences, such decisions are made in a context which is
heavily influenced by wider social, cultural and economic factors
and the support and resources to which a mother and her family have
access. As this report has shown, any consideration of maternal
employment must take into account the significant variations in
mothers’ socio-economic circumstances.